I noticed a few things about Solomonic Travel. Namely that opening a window or passage through an AC is a seperate guideline from most guidelines- though that could be the AC guideline requires only an AC.
But then- following pure RAW- it does render most other guidelines redundant to some extent if that is the case. Supernatural aura hopping is just less effective in most cases to the point you need at least two auras at 6 or higher for the sake of this being more effective. In addition, you should technically be able to open passage ways intonthe Magic Realm through said ACs- passage ways that a seperate base 30 is required to do.
Plus, the relevant spells of other guidelines never specify requiring an AC despite ars' tendency to say such things. Supernatural aura hopping can be done to any place you visiter, whereas entering the faerie realm seems possible whenever.
This kinda all indicates to me Solomonic Travel doesn't require ACs, except for the specific guidelines that demand it- which does break the Limit of ACs and that is my big hesitance. If the Limit was intended to be broken by the sahirs in this aspect, the rules would be more clear no?
The last example on p60 in The Cradle & The Crescent would apparently disagree.
This ritual spell opens passage to a particular location in the Magic Realm, without requiring travel through the Twilight Void (see Realms of Power: Magic, pages 21–23). It is said that the current grand vizier possesses an Arcane Connection to a pit in the middle of a great stone fortress located in that realm, built on an island in the middle of a cold and lonely sea. Traitors to the Suhhar can be quietly exiled to this prison through the use this spell.
The basic guidelines do not explicitly require an AC because they are basic guidelines--absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. If you can't specifically sense the target, you need an AC. (Or a mystery virtue which has not yet been integrated into Hermetic magic.)
As with Hermetic magic, the sahir must be able to perceive everyone targeted by the naranj at the time of casting in order to affect them. (TC&TC, p55)
The guidelines often lack clarity, but the text at the beginning of any of the Solomonic Arts is generally more specific. Solomonic Magic tends to require arcane connections more often than Hermetic Magic, because the spells have only one parameter.
One of the spell descriptions seems to imply that an Arcane Connection is required, even though the guideline does not explicitly state it.
The oubliette al-wazir
Solomonic Travel Level 45
Delay: Immediate, Ritual
This ritual spell opens passage to a particular location in the Magic Realm, without requiring travel through the Twilight Void (see Realms of Power: Magic, pages 21–23). It is said that the current grand vizier possesses an Arcane Connection to a pit in the middle of a great stone fortress located in that realm, built on an island in the middle of a cold and lonely sea. Traitors to the Suhhar can be quietly exiled to this prison through the use this spell.
(Base 30, +3 Immediate)
And the base 30 guideline is
Level 30: Open a direct passage to or from the Magic Realm through a vestige or boundary, bypassing the Twilight Void (see Realms of Power: Magic pages 21–23). (Ritual)
I think this all has to be read with some real knowledge of the rules of the Magic Realm from Realms of Power: Magic (page 21-24). I'm not sure I'm awake enough to really understand those rules.
As far as I can recall, some Solomonic Travel guidelines can work without the need for Arcane Connections; namely the ones that make portals connecting two auras together. The only condition this one has stated is that it needs to be an aura that the Sahir has been to before.
The Magic Realm though; the vestiges are essentially...things that have a mirroring object/location in the Magic Realm and they constitute an Arcane Connection to one another.
Only other Arcane Connection that comes to mind that can bring you directly to the magic realm would be a True Name of a spirit dveling there. Daimons are a most likely candidate...Or maybe a Jinni residing in said isle-prison location?
The spell itself doesn’t really state it- though that does indeed imply an AC is needed. However, ars magica typically states when an AC is needed within the spell- an example of this within Solomonic travel itself is The magical minaret. Which does use one of the guidelines that says an AC is needed.§
I think this all has to be read with some real knowledge of the rules of the Magic Realm from Realms of Power: Magic (page 21-24). I'm not sure I'm awake enough to really understand those rules.
The tricky part about this is that per the Magic Realm rules, the only ACs to the Magic Realm (besides presumably True Names) are Vestiges and Boundaries. It is not explicitly clear whether this place is a vestige or boundary, or whether the item is a physical connection to either.
In addition, I noticed an additional complication- there is a guideline for opening a passage within the Twilight Void, but according to the rules it is interrupted so it cannot really have an AC leading anywhere. There’s also guidelines like “open a passage into someone’s dreams” which is… how do you gain an AC to one’s dreams, unless we assume the person is the AC themselves?
The Magic Realm though; the vestiges are essentially...things that have a mirroring object/location in the Magic Realm and they constitute an Arcane Connection to one another.
Another complication I noticed- in such a case, the “open a passage through an AC” is more effective than the “open a passage directly to the Magic Realm” which feels like its against the spirit of the rules unless one assumes that Solomonic Travel doesn’t need ACs. Even ignoring that, it seems doubtful to me the faerie realm would have an AC leading to it with how unstable it is
A very basic issue for naranjs is, that (TC&TC p.33f) they are learned and cast with the help of summoned spirits. And these spirits might not only know of and have, but also be ACs already.
That might make the possible scope of general guidelines tricky.
True, but I am not sure how relevant that is. Especially considering only summoning spells can incorporate an AC at inventing, rather than using whatever AC the Sahir has on them.
It is unclear if the spirit can use the AC in any means besides modifying the penetration of the spell. Even in the case they can, it ultimately doesn’t answer the question of whether ACs are needed to say, open a passage to the Magic Realm- especially since the “open a passage through an AC” already presumably does that, and much more efficiently at that.
